Spokane Proposition 2
Election Results
| Option | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Approved | 42,440 | 68.58% |
| Rejcted | 19,447 | 31.42% |
* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.
About The Measure
Spokane leaders are asking for $64.3 million that would be paid off over 20 years to rehabilitate Riverfront Park. Plans include creating a promenade through the park to provide better access, revamping the U.S. Pavilion to make it an outdoor venue for special events, creating a skating pond near Post Street and Spokane Falls Boulevard and constructing a major playground on the north side of the park. Officials say, if approved, taxpayers wouldn’t pay more each year, at least initially, because the new tax will pay off older, voter-approved park debt and refinance it at a lower interest rate.
Complete Coverage
Winter Glow Spectacular brightens Riverfront Park
It was pouring hard when the time came to flip the switch to light up dozens of holiday light displays in Riverfront Park on Friday night, but the crowd of nearly 200 people stuck it out. Some even took the time to walk through the park to look at the displays before heading for cover.
Spokane lights up new tradition
It was pouring hard when the time came to flip the switch to light up dozens of holiday light displays in Riverfront Park Friday night, but the crowd of nearly 200 people stuck it out.
Friday’s lighting ceremony will give Riverfront Park holiday glow
’Tis the season – for lights to be strung on everything. Trees. Buildings. The occasional pet. An urban park. This holiday season, Spokane’s Riverfront Park will feature the first of what’s hoped to be an annual event, the Spokane Winter Glow Spectacular. Thirty displays showing different holiday scenes will ring an inner loop in the park, and they’ll twinkle through the month of December.
Two men jailed in reported Riverfront Park robbery attempt
Two men are in custody of the Spokane County Jail after allegedly assaulting and robbing a man walking home from work in Riverfront Park late Sunday.
Editorial: Street repair, Riverfront ballot issues deserve ‘yes’ vote
Propositions 1 and 2 offer Spokane voters savvy options for maintaining the streets and refurbishing a beloved park – without increasing current tax rates. Proposition 1 is the next step in financing street repairs, after the successful 10-year bond expires this year. This time it’s a 20-year levy, and if voters agree to extend current property tax assessments, the city would use the revenue to attract matching funds for up to $25 million annually to repair and upgrade streets and curbs and add bike lanes, lighting and landscaping.
Schools to parks: Conley takes on new city position
Jason Conley is swapping yellow school buses for emerald green parks. Starting next month, Conley will begin his job as executive officer of Spokane’s Parks and Recreation department. The role is second to Leroy Eadie, the parks director, and is proposed as a way to let Eadie focus more on the department’s operation. Conley is the first person to fill the position.
Riverfront Park face-lift seen as legacy project
Spokane’s identity is so deeply entwined with the world’s fair it hosted 40 years ago, and the massive transformation in its wake downtown, that it’s difficult for some to remember Spokane as it once was: the steel heart of a powerful mining and lumber region.
Doug Clark: Pigout etiquette anything but proper
Labor Day Weekend is at hand, which means my favorite annual event – Pigout in the Park – is once again in full swing. And I’m not saying this just because my band plays there.
Doug Clark: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge a worthy fad
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge caught up with me at high noon Friday next to the big red wagon in Riverfront Park. I took a seat on one of the toy building block sculptures while state Sen. Mike Baumgartner, the guy who challenged me, prepared to douse me with a large orange bucket filled with ice and water he just scooped out of the nearby Spoganges River.
Friday night youth event launches annual powwow
For a few hours Friday night, the powwow at Riverfront Park belongs to kids. The Youth Powwow and Family Fun Night is part of the Gathering at the Falls Powwow. Spanning three days, the event brings together Northwest tribal members and non-Natives for dancing, food and socializing in downtown Spokane.
Teaching tradition
Oksana Tepp wore a traditional Ukrainian dress and put a wreath of flowers on her head for her role as the ambassador of Ukraine during Saturday’s Unity in the Community event in Riverfront Park. She told people who stopped by her booth in the Cultural Village that the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag represent the blue sky and wheat. She talked about traditional dresses like hers being worn on holidays and special occasions. She dispelled the myth that Ukraine is part of Russia and pointed out her home country on the map.
Spokane voters to decide on polishing Riverfront Park, fixing streets
There was little controversy at Monday’s Spokane City Council meeting, where discussion centered on two big tax measures: to revitalize Riverfront Park and continue funding for street maintenance. Voters may not be so agreeable, but they’ll have a chance to consider the proposal. After more than an hour of public input, the council unanimously voted to send the innovative financing package to voters on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Cami Bradley headlines Hoopfest concert
The show almost didn’t go on. Hoopfest organizers planned a free outdoor community concert Thursday to kick off the 25th annual Hoopfest tournament but spent much of the day watching the rain pour down and checking the weather forecast.
Vestal: Refurbished, revitalized park should be busy all the time
A question for Hoopfest weekend: Shouldn’t we have more events, big and small, in and around Riverfront Park? A group of local citizens who developed a master plan for the park think so. “In time,” they argued in a summary of the plan, “the goal should be to have events happening in the Park all the time.”
Birthday party celebrates Riverfront Park’s Garbage Goat
Typically, when someone is said to have “inhaled” a piece of cake, it’s not meant to be taken literally. But the 40th birthday party Saturday afternoon for Riverfront Park’s garbage-eating goat was not typical in any sense.
Spokane Park Board approves face-lift for Riverfront Park
The first major renovation of Riverfront Park in decades is a step away from being sent to voters for approval. The Spokane Park Board approved the 2014 Riverfront Park Master Plan along with its accompanying funding package in a special session on Friday. The plan, which encompasses $40 million to $50 million in park improvements, would be funded by a voter-approved bond measure on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Fate of Expo ’74 sculpture murky as park is revamped
A dirt lot north of Riverfront Park holds the ruins of Expo ’74. The dismantled wings of one of the giant, welcoming butterfly sculptures from the World’s Fair lie near some weeds.
Outdoor movies at Riverfront Park start June 11
Outdoor movies at Riverfront Park in Spokane start June 11 with “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” and continue every Wednesday night until July 16.
Spokane County field house proposal unlikely to include ice rink
An ice rink likely won’t be included in a proposed $20 million field house that Spokane County commissioners could put to voters as part of a 2015 park ballot measure. The county is considering a proposal by the Spokane Sports Commission to underwrite a field house on the north bank of the Spokane River to draw visitors to Spokane for tournaments.